Early Morning Musings
by AlliBeth
Summary: I'm still a little on the flat side after 7x04. This is a tag (which kind of goes with my missing scene). It's a bit rambling… but I'm in a rambling kind of mood right now.


Teresa Lisbon let out a soft sigh, cuddling closer to Patrick Jane in the confines of the airstream's small bed.

Her throat felt like razor blades and her head was pounding, giving her an idea of just how bad the blond man beside her had felt the day before.

"Morning," the man in question whispered into the darkness. "How are you feeling?"

"Like death…." she muttered, shifting closer, if that was at all possible.

"Sorry….."

"It's okay…"

She'd had every intention of going home the night before. Actually said goodnight to him, told him she'd check in in the morning. She'd made it about a mile down the road when she decided she'd feel a lot better if she went back to him.

What was the point of going home to an empty house when he was so close and they were both sick already.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Lisbon reached for her phone - easily within reach in her jacket pocket. "5am…"

"Ugh…"

"Yeah…"

Jane reached down to take her hand, placing a kiss on her palm.

"Let's call in sick today."

She laughed, "because that's not going to look suspicious at all…"

Jane rolled his eyes, "Seriously woman, it's not like we're lying. We're both sick. You go in like this, more people are going to be felled by the bug."

He felt her nod against his shoulder. "Okay…"

"Good."

Jane tucked the blanket tighter around them, and they fell into a comfortable silence. He had missed this. The feeling of just being close to her without the outside world interrupting.

"Did you mean what you said?" she whispered.

"When?"

"Last night…"

He frowned, trying to remember what she might be talking about. "You mean about leaving?"

"Yeah, that."

He sighed. "I don't know. I think I'm just frustrated."

"Why?"

"We had two amazing weeks when we got back from Florida," he explained. "Just you and me. Now we barely have a second to ourselves. And when we do, we're too sick to make the most of it."

"It's the job…. it's who I am…"

"I know. And I want you to be happy. More than anything. But the job scares me now."

Lisbon shifted, leaning on an elbow, looking at him. "I don't understand…"

"I've nearly lost you twice in the last couple of weeks. First Marie and her boyfriend being seconds away from shooting one or both of us.. then Jan…"

"I was just as scared of losing you…"

He nodded, "So why do we do it?"

"Because we're good at it. Very good at it. And we can make a difference. We can help people."

"I know it's selfish, but sometimes I just want to leave other people to do the job."

Lisbon flopped down beside him again, linking her arm through his "Well, we're doing that today. And then we have a whole weekend to ourselves…"

"Hmmm…."

"Hmmm?"

His silence spoke volumes. She could almost hear him thinking - knew there was more he wanted to say.

"What's up?"

"Nothing…"

She rolled her eyes, "Now you're sounding like me. Spit it out."

"Yesterday was not easy…"

"Well you're sick…"

He turned to face her, "It's not just that… You know why I ended up here instead of your place? The real reason?"

"Why?"

"Abbott offered someone up to drive me home."

"Who?"

"Well it turned out the boss man drove me himself. I couldn't very well tell him to take me to your place, since as far as the outside world knows we're not together. I know he knows, but you don't want people talking…. so what could I do?"

Lisbon sighed, "Is this your way of telling me you want to tell people?"

"Lisbon, you know I'd be happy to shout it from the rooftops," he laughed, "but you wouldn't be comfortable with that. I don't want to tell everyone until you're happy to - just Abbott and Cho. I think they need to know."

He could feel her thinking, as her head rested against his shoulder. "Okay…" she finally whispered.

"Okay?" he confirmed.

"Yeah. Let's do it Monday."

"Great, pass me your phone.."

She regarded him with a raised eyebrow and handed it over, watching as he punched in the passcode (she'd changed it many times, but he always figured it out - told her she was 'so predictable' and anyway, he needed to know in case of emergencies)

After tapping away for a few moments, he turned the screen towards her, showing her the message.

'Boss,' it read, 'as usual, Jane has been a pain in the butt and passed on his cold. I'm heading to the doctor today, but can work from home if you need me. Hope you, Cho and Wiley don't come down with this. Lisbon'.

She smiled, "You know, that almost sounds like me…"

"I know…" he hit send, "I added the bit about me being a pain in the butt for authenticity.."

"I love you, despite your pain in the butt tendencies," she admitted.

"That's good, because I love you, too. Let's get some sleep before we make the most of our last weekend as a secret couple."


End file.
